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    #34 Where else?

    Regularly asking “Where else?” is one of the simplest ways to become more creative and generate innovative insights.

    Not only does this allow you to connect new insights with existing knowledge and experience, but it also invites you to imagine new use cases.

    • “Where else have I seen this (or something similar) before?”
    • “Where else does this apply (to my current knowledge)?”
    • “Where else might this apply (in contexts where I haven’t discovered it yet)?”

    Examples

    Harvard Medical School professor Herbert Benson suggests the neurotransmitter NO (Nitric Oxide) may be the catalyst for breakthroughs and “aha moments.”
    Where else have I seen this before? -> Pranayama/Yogic Breathing: Nasal breathing (and humming “om”) can increase nitric oxide production fifteen-fold. Humming your way to epiphanies might be worth a try.

    Learning a language by grouping words instead of reducing it to words and grammar. Where else does this apply? -> Conversation Based Chunking; learning series of digits by grouping them together;… See: chunking concept in cognitive psychology

    Uber made it possible for people to share/rent out their car.
    Where else might this apply? -> How about sharing/renting out your home? That’s how AirBnB was born.

    You don’t have to look elsewhere.
    See what’s already there, then ask…
    Where else?

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    #136 Unoriginal thought

    If the storm ChatGPT is causing shows us one thing, it’s how unoriginal most of our thoughts are.

    AI builds on a massive library of what others have learned before.

    (Individual) humans build on a much smaller library of what others have learned before.

    If we merely do what others have done before, in some fields, AI has caught up to us already.

    What happens we build on what others have learned before, and combine it with what we learn ourselves (in other words, practice and skill building)?

    Now we’re talking about innovation: we’re doing things that haven’t been done before.

    And even then, one day, AI will possibly also innovate and do things that haven’t been done before.

    Sheer “processing power” is not a game we can win.

    The true question here:

    If raw intelligence and “brain processing power” isn’t what makes us truly, uniquely human, then what is?

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    #22 Actions Overrule Thoughts

    One of the most potent drivers of change AND perpetuators of old habits is cognitive dissonance:

    In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is the perception of contradictory information, and the mental toll of it. Relevant items of information include a person’s actions, feelings, ideas, beliefs, values, and things in the environment. Cognitive dissonance is typically experienced as psychological stress when persons participate in an action that goes against one or more of those things.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance

    What’s interesting about cognitive dissonance is that both “sides” of the dissonance are not equal:

    If you think one thing, but you do something else, eventually you’ll start believing what you do, not what you think.

    In other words: actions overrule thoughts.

    1. If I tell myself I can’t write a daily post (thought) and I don’t write a daily post (action), I perpetuate the belief.
    2. If I tell myself I can’t write a daily post (thought) but I gain enough courage and I actually do write a daily post (action), I will start shifting my belief towards the actions I’m taking. In other words: I’ll start believing I can write a daily post.
    3. If I tell myself I can write a daily post (thought), but I never actually write that daily post (action), then my belief will start shifting again, and I’ll start believing I can’t write a daily post.
    4. If I tell myself I can write a daily post (thought) and I do write a daily post (action), my belief grows stronger.

    We usually start in the first scenario until we gain enough leverage over ourselves to change our actions. The moment we change our actions to actions that conflict with our thoughts/beliefs, we’re creating cognitive dissonance.

    Then, if we follow through with our new actions, our beliefs start to change.

    The big turning point is that moment where you start taking a different action.

    Which begs the question:

    • How can we gain enough leverage over ourselves to go against our beliefs and change our actions for the better?
    • How can we make it so important to us to change (or so painful NOT to change) that we start taking different actions?

    Identify your leverage points that jolt you into action, and you gain power over your beliefs and identity.

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